Sullivan man sentenced for weapons possession charges

WAMPSVILLE >> A Sullivan man was sentenced to five years in state prison for three criminal weapons charges on Wednesday.

“I apologize this case has gone this far,” said a visibly shaken Edward Atkins, 57, of Black Creed Road in Sullivan.

Atkins was found guilty in county court on May 7 of three counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second, third and fourth-degrees, with second- and third-degree being class C and D felonies, and the fourth-degree being a class A misdemeanor. His sentences for the three charges are running concurrently, and after five years in prison, he will also have three years of post-release supervision.

After a jury trial was held in his absence, he was located by authorities in Lawrenceville, Va. on May 20, and was held at the Brunswick County Jail until he was brought to Madison County Jail, where he has been held without bail since that time.

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The trial was a result of an October 2012 arrest after finding more than 60 long guns and about five pistols in the back of Atkins’ girlfriend’s vehicle at his home on Black Creek Road in Kirkville. Atkins had a 2007 felony conviction on a grand larceny charge from Onondaga County and was not allowed to legally possess firearms as a result.

During sentencing, Atkins reiterated to the court that the guns found on his property were family heirlooms he hoped to one day pass on to his son. His attorney, David Zukher, of Syracuse, also stressed the collection had been inherited, and said the weapons had not been fired, were not used in any crime, and had been in the family for many years.

Madison County District Attorney William Gabor read a letter written by New York State Police Investigator James Martin, who was the lead investigator in the case and also testified in Atkins’ trial. In the letter, Martin wrote he felt Atkins “does not know the difference between right and wrong.”

Zukher criticized the reading, saying he had never seen such a thing in his years of practicing law and felt the investigator might have “had an axe to grind.”

County Court Judge Dennis McDermott also said he did not know why the case went to trial in the first place, saying the original plea deal - which was rejected by Atkins - would have carried a sentence of about two years and could have been served in county jail instead of state prison.

“I don’t enjoy sending you to state prison,” McDermott said.

After being extradited from Virginia, Atkins was to face a charge of second-degree bail jumping; however, on Wednesday, Gabor said the charge had been dismissed because the case circumstances did not fit the criteria for the charge.